HudsonAlpha part of team that makes revolutionary DNA discovery that could lead to cures for major diseases (editorial)

The Huntsville TimesFile photo of HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology's campus in Cummings Research Park.

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama _ From studies into the infinitesimal genetic building blocks of life to the infinite reaches of outer space, scientists in Huntsville are making headway in potentially world-changing research.

Huntsville's HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology found itself in the spotlight this week in a breakthrough on genetic research that could help cure and prevent human disease.

The ultimate goal is to learn how genetic differences in DNA develop, and how those differences make people more vulnerable to disease and affect disease development.

That, in turn, could lead to new drugs and help explain how the environment can affect disease risk for maladies such as cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, lupus, Chrohn's disease and even to traits like height.

Times reporter Lee Roop reported on the latest discoveries Thursday which were announced simultaneously by multiple research partners across the globe.

The findings are the result of a colossal federal project involving 440 scientists from 32 laboratories around the world, including HudsonAlpha.

Past research has focused largely on the 2 percent of genome known to be active in forming new cells. The remainder had been dismissed as "junk" - parts of DNA that are not actual genes containing instructions for protein. But as the research looked deeper, they discovered that more answers could reside in the areas of the genome once believed inactive.

The New York Times framed the discovery as a "stunning resource" showing DNA to be far more active than expected. Researchers discovered that "small segments of dark matter DNA are often quite close to genes they control. In the past, when they analyzed only the uncoiled length of DNA, those controlling regions appeared to be far from genes they affect," The Times reported.

So essentially, the research will redirect scientists to look beyond just the genes themselves into the precise and complex controls exerted on cell function.

To the lay person, all this is horribly complicated as is so much about these complex vessels known as the human body. But just like NASA engineers remain undaunted by challenges, so, too, are HudsonAlpha scientists in delving into the blueprint of human life.

This emphasis on pursuing the difficult was invoked by President John Kennedy in a 1962 speech challenging America to put a man on the moon.

"We choose to go to the moon... in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard,... because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."

Deep probes into genetic research seem a natural for scientists at HudsonAlpha. It's in their DNA.